


The Scent of Flowers

by m0rkl



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Gen, will tag as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-15 09:51:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9229406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m0rkl/pseuds/m0rkl
Summary: A dying god wishes for their named to be returned before they fade away. In return, the god bestows their remaining power upon Natsume. At first, it’s helpful and things seem to be going well, then all of the sudden they’re not.Natsume has to deal with what happens when a human possesses far more spiritual power than a human is meant to.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm finally writing a Natsume Yuujinchou fic! I've been meaning to for a while but never got around to it until now. I'm not sure how quick I'll be to updates but hopefully I won't be tooooo terrible about it like I've been with other fics lol. I'm always craving angst so look forward to that. I hope you enjoy <3

            Natsume sighed, tapping his pencil to his homework. He was too tired for it really, having returned two names earlier that evening. Still, he had to get his work done. The Fujiwara’s might begin to worry if his grades dropped. Grimacing, he returned to the problem he had been working on, starting from the beginning to see if that might help him at all.

            “I’m back!” The door slid open and in wobbled Nyanko-sensei, red-faced from sake as usual. Natsume gave him a good natured huff and smiled.

            “Welcome back, sensei.”

            “Oi, I heard there’s going to be a celebration tomorrow. We’re going!” The round cat hiccuped as he flopped next to Natsume.

            “We?” He asked, furrowing his eyebrows. “Why do I have to go?”

            “Because I said so! That’s why, idiot!” Nyanko-sensei hissed, clawing at the air. “There’s going to be food! And excellent sake! We have to go!”

            “It’s a school night.”

            “We’re going!”

            “I have homework!”

            “So?”

            “Sensei!”

            They bickered as usual, growling back and forth without real fire in their words. As tiring as it was, Natsume couldn’t imagine sitting in his room quietly anymore. He rarely got a moment of peace before he was arguing with the fat calico or some youkai came to ask for their name. If he was being honest, he prefered it this way. Even if it was troublesome, he’s certainly never bored and he’s not lonely either. Between all of his youkai friends and human ones, he felt better than he had his entire life.

            Not that he wasn’t constantly worried about things. On occasion, he wondered if life was easier when people didn’t care enough to ask him what was wrong or try and help him. At least then no one else got caught up in his messes. But it was lonely and painful in those days. He wondered if it’s selfish to be glad to have people to share his troubles with. Or was that just what friends was like? He still wasn’t sure. He finished his homework and went to bed, feeling the slight warmth coming off Nyanko-sensei just a little ways away in his futon.

            That night, he dreamt of a beautiful person. He knew they weren’t human. They seemed frail and delicate, their hands folded gently in their lap. For some reason, the person seemed sad, but despite that, they were smiling. There was warmth in their presence, but it was fading. It made Natsume want to cry, but he wasn’t sure why. A few white flower petals began to fall. Then more. Then so many that he couldn’t see that beautiful person anymore. He reached out to try and find them, but there was nothing but the soft sensation of petals on his skin. When the petals let up, the person was gone and Natsume felt like crying again.

            He woke with unshed tears heavy on his lashes and a hand reached towards the ceiling. Sitting up, he stared at his hand, remembering the sensation of flower petals. Yet, he couldn’t remember what that beautiful person looked like. All he knew was flower petals.

            The dream was still on his mind during class, though he wasn’t sure why. He had certainly had more troubling and disturbing visions in his sleep. Having such a calm a peaceful dream should have been a relief to him. But the dream stayed with him like he still has flower petals stuck in his hair. On a whim he patted his head to see if there actually were any petals there, but found none.

            “What’s wrong, Natsume? You’ve been spacing out all day.” Nishimura was leaned up against his desk before Natsume even registered what his friend has said.

            “Eh? Oh, it’s nothing…” He chuckled weakly. “Just thinking about a dream I had.”

            “Oh? Was it a good one? Did you dream about a girl?!” He gasped, jumping to conclusions.

            “No, it was nothing like that, really.” Natsume put up his hands in an effort to get Nishimura to tone it down. “There were just some really pretty flowers.”

            “Flowers? Seriously, of all things.” He exhaled, sounding a bit bored. Then he smiled teasingly and pointed a finger at Natsume. “Ah, but I guess if anyone would he hung up on a dream about flowers, it’d be you.”

            “Oi. What’s that supposed to mean?” He huffed.

            “Nothing, nothing! I just mean you’re definitely the soft and sensitive type. It’s good, girls like that!” Nishimura shrugged, enjoying Natsume’s exasperated reaction.

            “Ah…” He sighed. Every time Nishimura brought up girls, Natsume felt weird. Sure, he knew plenty of nice girls and pretty ones too, but he didn’t understand Nishimura’s excitement. Maybe he was too busy worrying about youkai to think about those sort of feelings, but he wasn’t sure. Listening to his friend go on and on, he let his gaze drift out the window where some movement caught his eye. Hiding behind a tree was a tall figure. “Ah!”

            “What? Is something there?” The boy began looking out the window, searching for whatever had scared Natsume. Nishimura obviously saw, nothing, but Natsume stared harder at the odd figure. He couldn’t really make out how the person looked, but from the way they were dressed, it was most likely not a human. The loose fabric of their clothing fluttered in the wind in a way that reminded Natsume of something, but he wasn’t sure what. There wasn’t any sort of evil presence coming from them and in fact, the presence seemed rather weak. He would have to investigate later. Turning back to Nishimura, Natsume waved a hand in front of his face.

            "I-it was nothing… just a weird looking bird. But it flew away, I think.” It was a poor lie, but it was good enough.

            “Honestly, you’re so jumpy sometimes.” He sat back in his seat and sighed. “Like a cat! Maybe that ugly cat of yours has started to rub off on you! Careful that you don’t get round and ugly like it!” Natsume laughed, imagining Nyanko-sensei’s reaction to that sort of insult.

            When he returned home, said cat was nowhere to be found. Probably off drinking at the celebration he had spoken of. Some bodyguard he was. At least he hadn’t dragged Natsume along with him where he would probably be teased by the other youkai for being a scrawny human who didn’t drink. When he didn’t return even for dinner, Natsume started worry a little. Perhaps he was just out drinking still, but it didn’t stop the boy from feeling a little uneasy without his bodyguard around.

            “Natsume!” As if on queue, Nyanko-sensei appeared at the window, clearly drunk and accompanied by several familiar youkai. “Come on, the celebration is starting!”

            “Sensei!” He snapped, though he was glad to know Nyanko-sensei was alright. “I told you I wouldn’t go!”

            “Too bad! Grab your things and let’s go!” He crooned, followed by the drunken cheers of others.

            “Come, come! We’re going to see the moonlight flowers bloom!” Hinoe stuck her head in the window above Nyanko-sensei. She seemed to be drunk as well, though not quite as much so as his cat.

            “Moonlight flowers?” Natsume echoed, remembering the flower petals from his dream.

            “Mmhmm, and this will be your last and only chance to see them.” The cat nodded, his fat body wobbling on the windowsill.

            “Wait, why?”

            “A god is dying.” Nyanko-sensei stated plainly, sounding surprisingly sober in that moment. Amber eyes widened slightly, now interested.

            “Tsukihana is a small god who once held celebrations when the flowers would bloom and fall on a night of the full moon. But the tree they inhabit has fallen into poor health as of late and there have been fewer and fewer times that the flowers have bloomed under the full moon. This will be the last time.” Hinoe explained, letting out a small puff of smoke as she held her pipe between delicate fingers. “You should attend, Natsume. Reiko got to see them bloom. You should as well.”

            Natsume hung his head and gave a long sigh. They had convinced him. Once he had his jacket and the Book of Friends with him, he climbed out the window and followed the group through the forest. Not more than a few minutes into the walk, he began to think about the beautiful person in his dream and the flower petals that surrounded them. Could it possibly have a connection to this? Not to mention the strange person he saw at school. He realized that he should probably have brought it up to Nyanko-sensei, but now didn’t seem like the right time since everyone was in a celebratory mood. Besides, he didn’t have a bad feeling about it, so there shouldn’t have been anything to worry about.

            The celebration was what he expected. It was loud and rowdy, with plenty of food and drink. Youkai of varying sizes and power danced about, singing drunken tunes before a dry looking tree. He gazed at it, taking in the details of its withered bark. Despite its unhealthy appearance, a few flower buds remained, looking ready to bloom under the light of the full moon. Then, from the tree, a figure began to emerge, first delicate fingertips, then a hand and wrist and arm. But it was only once the light blue sleeve appeared, did Natsume recognize the emerging figure as the person from his dream. The others around him quieted as well as Tsukihana appeared out of the tree. Small white youkai, the god’s attendants fluttered about, assisting the god as they emerged. They glowed faintly, with white hair reflecting the moonlight and deep blue robes that seemed to blend in with the color of the night sky except at the ends of the sleeves where they turned a lighter blue and were dotted with elegant little flowers. Tsukihana was just as beautiful as they had been in his dream. Pale eyes searched the crowd of youkai until they landed on the single human in the group.

            “Nastume!” Their voice floated daintily, though Natsume had a feeling it had once been much more powerful. “You finally came!” Their smile seemed so genuine and bright that it pained him to tell them the truth.

            “Ah… I’m sorry, but I’m not the person you were expecting.” There was a slight stab in his chest when he saw Tsukihana’s smile falter. “Natsume Reiko was my grandmother. She died a long time ago.”

            “I see. Human lives are so fleeting.” The sadness was so evident in their voice, Natsume felt like he might cry. “She promised me she would come to visit… I was hoping to see her one last time.”

            “That was you, wasn’t it?” Natsume asked, remembering the figure hidden in the shadows. The presence he felt then was the same. “The one I saw at my school.”

            “Yes, I cannot leave this tree often, especially not anymore. But, I thought that I sensed Reiko… I really wanted to see her if I could.” The god sat down at the base of the tree, folding their hands in their lap.

            “It sounds like you liked her.” A smile crept up Natsume’s lips. It was always nice to hear kind words about his eccentric grandmother. Youkai generally called her troublesome and strange, even if they did speak of her fondly from time to time.

            “She helped me once, when there were humans looking to cut down parts of this forest.” A wistful look came over their face. “I was so angry at those humans I almost became an evil spirit, but Reiko chased them away. She made them think it was haunted by something.” Laughter bubbled up from their throat and they looked up at the moonlit sky.

            “Then, your name. Did she take it?” From the look on the god’s face, Natsume could tell they were remembering good things.

            “She did, but I was glad to give it to her. I’m only a little sad that she never called on me. Then again, I doubt anyone would call on a god with dwindling power who’s mostly confined to this forest.” They smiled downwards, smoothing out the fabric of their clothes.

            “Let me return it to you then.” He reached for his bag to get the Book of Friends, but Tsukihana just laughed.

            “You really are different from Reiko, aren’t you?” The celebration was still going on around them, but for some reason Natsume felt a sort of serenity talking to Tsukihana. The two of them seemed to have their own little space despite the lively people around them. Loud parties had never really been his sort of thing, so he prefered this private conversation with the god. “But in other ways you’re very much the same. I feel a similar sort of presence about you and you look just like her. It’s a shame your hair is so short. Reiko had such beautiful long hair.”

            “T-that might be a little strange on me, since I’m a boy.” He chuckled nervously, putting a hand through his own light colored locks.

            “I think it would be quite becoming of you.” The god reached out and felt Nastume’s hair. He stiffened, a bit uncomfortable with such a gesture, but he didn’t pull away. “For some growing your hair long is a sign of more spiritual power. Even for a human, someone like you should have very long hair.”

            “I think I’ll keep it this way, sorry. It might be a lot to take care of if I let it get that long.” Natsume mumbled, concealing a slight blush. He wasn’t really sure how to respond to those sort of compliments. Another small laugh came from Tsukihana, sounding light and cheerful. It almost made him forget that this celebration was going to be the last for this god.

            “The flowers will bloom soon.” They turned to look up at the moon shining brightly upon them. “After that, they will linger for just a few moments then fall. Ephemeral, like human lives. When the flowers bloom, please return my name, Natsume Takashi.”

            “I will.” He nodded, giving the god a soft smile.

            “Natsume!” The kappa he often helped, jumped up holding a bottle of sake to his face. “Drink with us!”

            “I’m underage, I’ve told you before!” He protested, but the kappa as well as a few others, insisted making Tsukihana chuckle. The celebration continued for a while. Tsukihana chatted with their attendants and the youkai, but every once and a while they would smile radiantly over at Natsume. Finally, Tsukihana stood, looking up at the flowers on their tree. They smiled in anticipation as the moon moved into just the right position to shine directly on the flowers. Everyone ceased in their merriment to watch as the bud opened up, revealing bright white flowers with the deep color of the sky in their centers. Natsume watched in awe as Tsukihana stood under their tree, breathing in the sweet scent of the blossoms.

            “It’s amazing.” Natsume could help but gasp at the beauty of the moonlight flowers.

            “Watch carefully then. This will be the last time they bloom.” Nyanko-sensei climbed up to sit on his shoulder, taking in the sight of the flowers as well. It was sad, Natsume thought. There were so few flowers on the tree, but in his dream there had been so many petals. He imagined that once, the tree had been full of these gorgeous blue and white blossoms. Perhaps that was why he felt like crying in his dream. Was Tsukihana sad that there were so few flower left to bloom?

            “Natsume.” The god stepped forward, pulling the boy from his thoughts.

            “Ah, that’s right. I’ll return your name now.” He reached for his bag to get the Book of Friends, pulling out the worn book.

            “Hmph, I guess this one is fine. Seeing as they won’t last much longer anyways.” Huffed Nyanko-sensei before hopping off his back. “Sheesh. There will be nothing left by the time I get that book.”

            He would have liked to get to know Tsukihana better, Natsume thought. They seemed kind. Maybe the god could have told him stories about his grandmother. It would have been nice to hear about Reiko from someone who smiled so sweetly when thinking about her. He opened the Book of Friends before him and recited the words to find their name. The page with stood up straight, allowing Natsume to pull it from the binding. He placed the paper between his lips, blew out a breath and clapped.

            “I return this to you, Tsukihana. Please accept it.”

            “Thank you, Natsume.” The god sighed happily, but they voice sounded small and weak. It was clear they didn’t have much time left. “Even if I wasn’t able to meet Reiko again, I’m still glad. In return, I want to give you something.” The scent of the flowers wafted in the breeze as they leaned in close to Natsume.

            “Give me something?” Before he could ask anything further, Tsukihana pressed a kiss to the top of Natsume’s forehead. When they pulled away, he could tell their form was fading. He could see the petals begin to fall from the tree.

            “Thank you again, Natsume. I’m happy that I met you, if only for a brief moment.” As the few remaining petals fell, Tsukihana faded further. Their pale hair flowed gently in the night air for a moment, then they were gone. Natsume’s chest felt heavy and a tear slipped out the corner of his eye.

            “Oi, Natsume. What did Tsukihana give you?” Hinoe asked suspiciously, but Natsume hardly heard her. He turned to ask her to repeat herself, but all of the sudden he felt very tired.

            “Natsume?!” Someone called for him, but he fell into darkness.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsume notices something strange about himself.

_“I’ll kill them…” A low voice growled in the darkness. “I’ll kill them! I won’t let them touch my forest!”_

_The voice was Tsukihana’s, but they sounded vicious and more powerful than they had sounded before. The god’s tree appeared, then the god themself. They watched some construction workers go through the forest, evidently planning to cut down a section for one reason or another. Tsukihana’s sharpened nails dug into the bark of their tree, their eyes glowing a blood red instead of their usual soft yellow. An evil aura surrounded them, as angry crimson markings glowed on their cheeks. Yet somehow they still seemed very sad._

_“Oi.” A feminine voice from behind them made the god jump. “What’re you going to do?” Reiko asked, sounded bored as she approached the tree._

_“Insolent human child! I’ll kill you!” Tsukihana shrieked and attempted to slam Reiko to the ground. However, the girl just simply punched the god, causing them to collapse in pain, their silver hair splaying out around them. “How dare you!” They growled, though somewhat weakly. Reiko just smirked._

_The memory played out, following Reiko, Tsukihana and their attendants as they played pranks on the construction workers, leading them to believe there was a curse or something haunting the area. They even went as far as to tamper with the machinery waiting for them at the edge of the forest. Reiko and the god hid laughing as one man shouted wildly that they had been cursed for trying to cut down the forest. In the end, the plans to build there were cancelled._

_“I feel… happy.” Tsukihana said suddenly, realizing that the anger and hatred that had begun to grow inside them had receded. The deep red markings on their face had slowly faded away and their eyes returned to their usual pale color._

_“That’s good then.” Reiko folded her arms and sighed. “It would have been a pain to deal with you if you had turned evil after this.”_

_“It was more fun taking care of things this way wasn’t it?” The god giggled, thinking back on their shenanigans over the past few days._

_“It was…” The girl's eyes looked a little sad, though she was smiling like usual._

_“The flowers will bloom tonight. You’ll come see them, won’t you? It’s a celebration.” Tsukihana said as they walked back towards their tree. “They’re beautiful. I want you to see them. I want you to be there.” Somewhat shocked by their words, Reiko looked up at the god. Their elegant form wavered slightly like a tree in the wind._

_“Ah, I suppose.” She sighed, looking up at the flower buds on the tree. “It’s not like anyone’s expecting me.”_

* * *

 

            When Natsume woke, he was at home in his futon. Rubbing his eyes, he looked up to see Nyanko-sensei, Hinoe and some of the other youkai of the forest staring intently at him.

            “Wah!” He jolted up, surprised to see everyone in his room. “What are you all doing here?”

            “You passed out, weakling.” Scoffed Nyanko-sensei. “And you let that god give you something weird. I can smell it on you.”

            “Madara, don’t say it like that! He smells good!” Hinoe cried, lunging forward to hug Natsume. “You don’t smell so much like a gross human man! This is soooo much better!”

            “Oi!” He struggled against the woman, but he grip was rather strong. “L-let me go, Hinoe!”

            “I’m sure whatever Tsukihana gave you is fine~” She laughed, still clinging to him. “The less human stink you have the better~”

            “I’m a human so I should smell like one!” He barked, trying to escape her hold. Hinoe, it turned out, had a rather strong grip and very sharp nails.

            “You look so cute when you’re angry!”

            “Stop it!”

            Madara watched the pair struggle, huffing at their behavior as though he didn’t act as equally childish on occasion. However, he was a bit concerned with Tsukihana’s supposed gift. The god hadn’t known much about humans so there was no telling what they might have done to the boy. Hinoe was right, his scent had definitely changed. Perhaps the human stink on him had just been masked by the scent of the moonlight flowers, but the cat sensed that something else had changed in Natsume. It didn’t appear to have any negative effect on the boy, so for now he would leave it be.

            The youkai chattered around him for a while, discussing Tsukihana’s parting and the wonderful smell of flowers that lingered faintly on Natsume. Eventually, he drove them all off exclaiming that he needed to sleep before school and that they shouldn’t all be in his room without permission anyways. Finally, he was about to catch a few measly hours of sleep before morning came.

            He slumped into the bathroom, exhaustion making his body feel heavy. Turning on the water, he splashed his face in an effort to wake himself up, but after drying himself off and looking in the mirror, Natsume felt that something wasn’t right. He blinked at his reflection, once. Twice. Then he realized…

            “Uwa!” His dirty blonde hair had grown to just below his elbows, making him look almost exactly like his late grandmother. He took a fist full of the hair and held it up to his face. He yanked it, the pain on his scalp telling him that this really was his own hair. The blond strands were silkier than his hair had ever been before, healthy and glossy. Maybe it would have been pretty on someone else, but he really didn't need anyone calling him pretty. It happened often enough.

            “Takashi? Are you alright?” Touko called from the kitchen, probably preparing breakfast.

            “Y-yes! It’s fine…” He took in a long breath and tried to calm himself down. Tsukihana’s words from last night echoed in his head.

            _“For some, growing your hair long is a sign of more spiritual power. Even for a human, someone like you should have very long hair.”_

            Perhaps this had been the god’s gift to him. He frowned at the long hair, knowing it would be even more difficult for youkai to tell him apart from his grandmother now. Also, it made him look like a girl. It would no doubt get him endless teasing from his friends. Still, there were worse things a god could give him. At least he could just cut his hair, though he felt terrible doing that since Tsukihana had done it as a parting gift. But he had to cut it. Human’s hair didn’t grow that much over night. How was he supposed to explain this?

            “Hm…” Natsume caught sight of Nyanko-sensei squinting at him in the mirror.

            “Sensei…”

            “What a boring gift Tsukihana gave.” The cat sniffed. “They should have just given you some sake or sweets. Instead you just smell more like dinner than usual.”

            “Don’t be rude, sensei.” Natsume grumbled, fingering the long strands of blonde hair. “But what am I supposed to do? I can’t go to school like this.”

            “Just cut it. Tsukihana isn’t around anymore so they won’t know.” The boy just sighed at the youkai’s insensitive suggestion, but he had a point. It just pained him to so easily throw away the gift given to by a god. They obviously had a high opinion of Reiko and had wished to do something for her. He put his arm under his hair to try and get it all behind his back. It was soft and a little warm on his arm. Natsume sighed. He sort of wished he could keep it. The hair was pleasant to the touch and comfortably blanketed his shoulders and back. But he shook his head. He couldn't keep it. The Fujiwara's would definitely know something was strange and he doubted it was within his school dress code. With some reluctance, he walked back into his room and found a rubber band and scissors. He pulled the hair back into a loose, low ponytail, then stared blankly at the scissors for a moment.

            “I’m sorry, Tsukihana.” He muttered before chopping off the long pony tail. What was left were jaw length strands that he could probably trim into his usual style without it being too noticeable. He held up the long ponytail, hoping the rubber band would keep the hair from getting everywhere, then wrapped it in an old t-shirt and hid it in his closet. If he couldn’t keep his hair long, he could at least keep it as a reminder of the gift Tsukihana gave him. Nyanko-sensei eyed him suspiciously. Something was still off about the boy, but he wasn’t sure what. Natsume sniffled a few times, then looked over at the cat.

            “Sensei, did you crawl through something strange? You smell… strongly.” He wasn’t sure how to describe it. For some reason, Madara smelled exactly how Natsume expected a beast to, like the feeling of silken fur, warm under his hands. A heavy, rich scent with lingering traces of sake and red bean. There was something else too that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. The smell wasn’t bad by any means, in fact it made him feel a bit calmer inside. It was just odd that he could smell the youkai at all. Usually the cat smelled like a cat, plus sake when he had been drinking. Perhaps the smells of the party had somehow clung to his fur.

            “Hm? Smell? Like what?”

            “Like… I don’t know. I can just smell you!” He grumbled, trimming the last bits of hair left. There wasn’t time to sit and talk about how the cat smelled. He was going to be late.

            “Hm.” Madara’s ear twitched. He had a bad feeling. Was it really possible? Something was certainly wrong if Natsume could smell him how other youkai did. Even the most powerful of humans could not smell a youkai to that degree. Reiko had never been able to. Many youkai could sense rank off others through smell and some were able to sense more. The most important thing was that they could always smell traces of human on someone. Madara could sometimes discern the intention of someone judging by their smell.

            “I’ll give you a bath later. See you after school, sensei!” While lost in thought, Madara had failed to realize Natsume had finished trimming his hair and was rushing off so he wouldn’t be late.

            “Idiot. He’s gotten himself into something troublesome again, hasn’t he?”

* * *

 

            “Natsume?” Taki asked as she, Tanuma and Natsume walked off the school grounds after class. “Did you try to cut your hair yourself?”

            “H-huh?” He stuttered, running a hand through his light colored hair. Tanuma leaned closer to inspect his hair as well.

            “You tried to cut your own hair, did you? That or whoever did it did a poor job.” She chuckled, looking at the unevenly cut strands. Natsume felt his hair again, now realizing how choppy it was. It was a rather rushed job after all.

            “It’s really bad isn’t it?” It was a bit of a surprise that no one had commented on it earlier if it looked so bad. Maybe they were just being polite, but he thought at least Nishimura would have taken the chance to poke fun at him.

            “It just needs to be evened out a bit. My dad can do it for you if you want, granted he isn’t busy.” Tanuma offered.

            “Your dad?” Natsume deadpanned.

            “Isn’t he bald?” They both visualized Tanuma’s father with his very shiny bald head.

            “T-that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to cut hair! He cuts mine!” Tanuma motioned to his own dark hair. It certainly was cut better than Natsume’s currently was.

            “Your dad cuts your hair?” Holding her fingers to her lips, Taki puffed out a short laugh.

            “There’s nothing weird about that! Do you want him to it fixed or not?”

            “I do! I do!” Natsume held his hands up, but he was still laughing.

 

            The next few days passed normally. A few youkai came, some asking for their names, some chasing him around to get the Book of Friends. He spent time with his human friends, trying as best he could to act like a normal teenager. However something was different. Natsume just wasn’t able to put his finger on what. Since the incident with his hair growing long, he didn’t think he noticed anything strange about himself, but something still seemed off. Perhaps he had a little more energy than usual, but it was nothing too noticeable. Thinking back on his hair, Natsume ran his fingers through the short locks. Thank god for Tanuma’s dad and his decent hair cutting skills. He had briefly feared that he would wake up the next day to find his hair long again, but that hadn’t been the case. Touko had caught his sigh of relief when looking at himself in the mirror and chuckled about something to do with boys his age. The small embarrassment then was better than having to deal with the humiliation that would evidently come if his friends saw him with long hair. Nishimura would no doubt say he looked like a girl and draw the attention of his other classmates. 

            “Ugh, I hate you Natsume!” Nishimura moaned dramatically. It was lunch time and Natsume was sitting on the rooftop with Nishimura, Kitamoto and Tanuma. Taki learned that if she joined them, Nishimura would spend the entire time bumbling awkwardly and giving half attempts to flirt. Instead she sat with Sasada and some of the other friends she had made since finally being able to talk. “Touko always packs the best lunches and all I have is store bought crap!”

            “If I let you have my inari will you stop whining?” Natsume gestured to the rice filled tofu, making his friend beam.

            “Really? You’re the best Natsume!” He plucked the piece from Natsume’s bento and joyfully took a bite.

            “Weren’t you just saying you hated me?”

            “I changed my mind!”

            “Hey, don’t eat all his food.” Kitamoto teased. “Natsume’s so scrawny the wind’s gonna blow him away!”

            “Oi, I’m not a leaf!” Even if Natsume tried to make himself seem tough, the other boys just laughed.

            On his walk home from school, he heard something rustling in the brush beside him. He smiled slightly. Whatever it was, they had no ill intent, he could tell. Stopping, he turned in the direction of the sound and went to investigate.

            “Hello?” He asked, then realized it was weird for him to deliberately call to a youkai like that. But then a small creature stuck it head out from between the leaves.

            “H-hello…” It replied, seeming slightly frightened. The youkai resembled a black bird, though it wore a plain grey kimono. Natsume smiled. It smelled of the forest and the air just after it rained. And then there was something else. It was similar to what he smelled on Nyanko-sensei, but lighter, far less powerful. He kneeled down to better see the youkai. Then it dawned on him...

            “I can smell things!?” He jumped up, startling the little youkai enough to make it bolt back into the bushes. He remembered the rich scent that followed Nyanko-sensei for the past week and the smell of earth and burnt sugar on Chukyuu. It was an odd thing to realize, but he had just figured they had smelled like whatever they have just been around. However, he could still smell Madara in his room after the youkai had left to go drinking. Chukyuu, Madara, this bird in the kimono, they all had their own scents plus something unmistakably ‘youkai’. Inhaling deeply, Natsume attempted to smell his surroundings. However, he stopped short because he felt rather ridiculous standing there on the side of the road smelling the air. It would be best to talk to Nyanko-sensei about it. He was generally knowledgeable about these sort of things.

            “Your sense of smell?” Nyanko-sensei hummed. It was as he suspected. Whatever Tsukihana had done to Natsume had increased his spiritual power. “The fact that you can smell youkai is certainly strange, but nothing to be too worried about. It’s something even low level youkai can do.”

            “But that’s still a little worrying! If this is something that supposedly only youkai can do, what does that mean for me?” He sighed roughly, annoyed that he wasn’t taking this seriously. “And then Hinoe commented on my smell saying I smelled less like a human. I’m not going to become a youkai am I?”

            “Don’t get cocky, Natsume. Just because you can smell things better now doesn’t mean you can become anything more than a weak little human.” The calico scoffed. But what would they do if that were the case? If something were to happen and Natsume could no longer exist as a human? It wasn’t unheard of and if it were to happen to anyone, it would end up being Natsume with his dumb luck. “I’m sure Tsukihana just gave you a little taste of their power and it’ll wear off soon enough.” The fat cat waddled towards the window and slid it open.

            “Don’t just leave!” Natsume growled. “You still haven’t explained anything to me!”

            “There’s nothing to explain!” Madara snapped, then hopped out the window. “I’m going drinking!” There was someone he needed to speak with.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy that people are enjoying this fic! I have everything plotted out so that should mean I'll finish it... I hope... lets keep our fingers crossed.... also it's unbeta'd so sorry for any typos
> 
> Thanks for the comments! They make my life <3 <3 <3


End file.
